To Better Days
by theGirlwithtoooomanyOTPs
Summary: Another feeble attempt at something fundamentally not allowed and the absolute chaos it ensues. (I do not own any of the characters. Set in the midst of Naruto: Gaiden) Chars: Boruto Uzumaki, Sarada Uchiha
1. Sarada

Sarada crossed her arms and stared blankly at the Nandaime's son.

"No."

Boruto huffed, unimpressed by her. There was only so much he can do without help at his age. It was a pain having to ask _her_ since she was always refusing to join him on his adventures that he'd learn to stop asking a long time ago.

"It'll be fun, y'know! Plus it'll be easy to go back!"

"Trouble means fun for you," she snorted gently. "You'll get me in trouble. And I'm not having the _Seventh_ be disappointed with me for letting his son ruin _time-space continuum_."

Boruto frowned openly at her and stared at the scroll in his hand.

"C'mon, Uchiha," he groaned. "It's just _chakra_ you and I have more to spare! Pop says so!"

"We don't use our chakra for tomfoolery!" Sarada sighed exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. She had associated the feeling of wanting to punch the hell out of someone with Uzumaki Boruto. "Shino-sensei would kill you."

It was Boruto's turn to cross his arms. "Like Shino-sensei could lay a hand on me!"

"Go ask someone else, Boruto," she told him in finality, sure that no one would even hear him out. The chakra required was tumultuos for their age and maybe Chouchou would have it in her but the price was death. Boruto could probably do it alone with his Uzumaki lineage but then again he'd still probably drop for days in exhaustion. He had better chances surviving if Sarada was with him.

Despite not truly liking Sarada, he knew the girl was as good as an equal.

But she's always been a goody two shoes and he'd probably have to move the hokage monument just to make her consider.

"I just wanted to see what my Pop was like years ago," he muttered to himself resignedly. He'd already wasted a whole day trying to convince her. He might as well give up. Dinner's almost ready anyway and his mom's dang scary when he doesn't come home on time.

Sarada's face didn't change as he walked away. "Well, whatever... See ya tomorrow, Four Eyes!"

He could find something else from the Hokage's library of scrolls for sure. They wouldn't be as cool but maybe he'll find something better _dattebasa_.

Sarada watched him go for a moment and turned towards her own home.

The new house was almost just like the old one Mama accidentally tore down the other day.

Once Mama woke up, she'd enlisted some old friends' help. It took less than a day and thankfully, the bank didn't seem to have noticed anything odd about the new kitchen and bathrooms. Mama said they'd _redecorated_. The man from the bank who came by because of some _rumor_ that the house had been leveled down nodded his approval and said that maybe, in a year's time, they could have the house reassessed. Mama seemed chipper after that.

When Sarada got home, the big house was empty once more. In the kitchen, she found her dinner and a note stuck on the fridge.

 _Be back tomorrow night, love. I'll be in the hospital if you need me. Breakfast is on the fridge. Money for lunch is in your room. I'll see you, Sara-chan! I love you, Sarada. - Mama_

Sarada crumpled the note but tucked the it in her pocket.

She reheated dinner herself since they haven't been able to buy a new microwave; the old one destroyed from the other day.

She brought dinner to bed and ate on her study table.

The note had been thrown on top of the pile of Mama's other notes in a box under her bed. The cut picture of the girl in glasses underneath all Mama's letters.

She had the habit of looking through them whenever lonely or mad. She didn't know what she felt right now. Just that she didn't want to see them.

She finished dinner, washed the dishes and got ready for bed.

She set down her glasses and turned off the lights.

Despite the long day in the Academy and Sarada having to endure Boruto all day, she couldn't close her eyes to sleep.

She lay on her back and stared at the shadows in the ceiling caused by the light from the streets.

She stayed quiet and awake for a long time.

* * *

Sarada woke up with barely enough time to make it before first bell.

She also had to re-do her assignment in five minutes as she left the one she finished before class even ended yesterday at home in her haste.

During lunch, Sarada made the wrong decision to buy _natto_.

She left Chou midway and went to the range without another word.

She found Shikadai napping under a tree while Mitsuki and Boruto chatted and ate their home cooked meals, laughing about the underclassmen's first attempts with their _henge_.

Boruto had been a prodigy. He'd made fast progress and was able to master the _kage bunshin_ easily. He was proficient in taijutsu as well like his mother and father. (They had their own record at 34-34.) But at least he wasn't as boastful as others would think. He was merely having a laugh because it reminded him of _his_ first attempts.

If Mama's stories were true, it was a good thing the Seventh ended up with Hinata- _obasan_. She was probably the reason why despite his disrespectful and bratty attitude towards his father, Boruto showed signs of being well-mannered and polite, but not to the point of being formal like his mother. That was probably the Seventh in him.

Mitsuki waved as she approached. "Hi, Sara-shan!"

Sarada gave the boy a polite nod. Mitsuki swallowed his sandwich and smiled at her.

"How're you?"

"I'm well."

Boruto looked up and raised a brow at her. "I'm not talking to you right now, Uchiha. Go away."

Sarada took a deep breath and met his eyes.

"I'll do it," Sarada told him with a stern face.

Boruto's face made a familiar huge impish grin.


	2. Boruto

When Boruto started _borrowing_ scrolls from the Hokage's personal (and _**strictly**_ forbidden) library, he knew he ought to be careful. (On not being caught, of course.)

Boruto learned more from there than he would from anyone else because, let's face it, even his father wouldn't teach him _rasengan_ until he became an Academy graduate.

He'd learned a couple of techniques there and luckily found out that he could do most of what he found.

He didn't actually have a method of picking. He just went in, grabbed for the one he could reach easily, spent the next few days learning and copying on his own set of scrolls and returning it as soon as possible.

His favorites were the Yondaime's own scrolls. Because seriously, his grandfather was kickass! To be called a prodigy like him lifted his spirits.

Also, he loved the challenge. They were really hard to learn and dealt more with precise chakra and his grandfather's fighting style revolved around speed and quickly taking down an enemy, so he often excluded traditional time-consuming methods such as hand seals. He hasn't gotten around to that level, but he was pretty damn fast.

Practicing the jutsu was harder than the actual stea- er, _borrowing_. His mother never let him out past seven without any valid reason and kept awake as late as eleven or twelve to wait for his father.

And having a hokage as a father wasn't as cool as everyone thought. (Other than it took a lot of _work_ to spend time with him like he had before getting the job) Pranking alone was not for the faint hearted. Did anyone really and truly know how hard it is to leave his mother's all-seeing eyes? Did anyone really and truly know how hard it is not to be caught by a father who could multiply himself endlessly? The man didn't even need to use his _sennin_ mode to find him. Every day was a new challenge for Boruto. Especially if he wanted to have time with his father.

Maybe it was petty and childish, but he missed Naruto. Pop used to always have the time for him. Take him out, buy him ramen, train him and tell him ridiculous stories of his youth.

Naruto had taken him aside before he'd gotten the job and told him about how it would affect their relationship. But he was six years old and what does a six year old actually know about being _'a big boy'_ other than caring for a younger sister? He doubted that 'big boys' fared well with no guidance from their fathers.

A subconscious part of Boruto knew that his parents were indulging him with his pranks. He wouldn't stop and them trying to catch him and was basically the only way he could spend time with them. Hinata was busy. Naruto was even busier.

The least they could do was prolong the chase. That's probably why Pop didn't use his _sennin_ mode and why Mom would rarely use Byakuugan and let Pop do most of the chasing himself or er, at least, with a clone.

He was still a kid, though and Boruto wanted, no, _needed_ , more.

So when he found the scroll, he wanted to try it at once.

It had been a pain trying to translate. It had been a pain trying to figure out the whole thing. And it had been a pain knowing he needed help.

The first person he'd had to, wanted to and needed to ask had been the Uchiha girl. But Uchiha Sarada was also the last.

She was such a killjoy, really!

He'd already given up on her but then she came to him and well, here they are, preparing for the jutsu that would bring them back through time.

It was a simple one, actually. With lengthy hand seals and required a load of chakra. It had about more than a hundred seals, immediately beating _Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu_ 's 44 hand seals which Boruto had never even tried before. If this goes to success, he'd definitely ask Kakashi- _ojiisama_ to teach him.

It would be dangerous, for sure. The Nandaime had kept them stashed for a reason. Which made it more appealing to the eldest Uzumaki child.

He grinned every now and then, excited at the prospect of seeing his parents and of making his mark to stand out in his father's eyes.

He looked over at Sarada, who was reading the scroll and murmuring under her breath.

He doesn't know why she suddenly said yes but he was thankful.

Sarada looked up to him and blinked. "What?"

Boruto just smiled cockily and grinned. "I'm ready!"

Her lips set to a grim line and she looked at him dubiously. "You said we could go back easily. How?"

Boruto made a pout and narrowed his eyes. "It's in the scroll! I'll show you later."

"Show me now."

"Let's just do this, Four Eyes," he whined. "The longer we stay here, the sooner someone will catch us!"

It wasn't just his Pop watching over him, after all. Hyuuga men were also supposed to be watching him every minute of his life. He'd been hell bent on losing them every day and it was a pain to keep all those bunshin running around just to confuse them, giving him enough time to do whatever prank he was up to at the moment.

If his mother ever got wind of what he was up to now, he would be grounded until he was _fifty_.

Sarada glared at him. "I'm not doing this if you're not—"

She wouldn't stop all the blabbering now.

Boruto rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. "Tch. You're so annoying 'ttebasa! Just trust me!"

Before Sarada could berate him for ignoring her concerns for their well-being, he was flicking through the first hand seals.

Sarada would have hit him if she could.

He was flying through the hand seals a mile a minute and if she got him distracted by one bit, they'd never have the chance again.

Boruto grinned when she placed her palm on the middle of his back, letting her chakra flow down to him, the way she saw and felt how her Mama did it when she healed her own cuts and bruises. There were times that she had been an excited kid, going to work with her mother, proud of having such a talented mother. But Sarada grew up.

She knew she was getting in the way and realized Sakura brought her along because there wasn't anybody to care for her. It wasn't exactly going to be some _bonding time_ if she had spinal injuries to operate on. And besides, the medic-nin weren't the greatest. She could hear them gossip about her behind curtains or clipboards or slender hands all the time. So Sarada put her foot down on her own. No more going to the hospital. She could learn to take care of herself. She knew Sakura had at least been half-relieved.

"… _ne, tori, inu, uma, i, u, hitsuji, ushi, saru, mi, tori, i, inu, tora…"_

The list of the hand seals was in Sarada's mind as she watched Boruto breeze through them. She closed her eyes and focused on the building chakra in Boruto's gut, trying to fuse hers with his without an explosion happening. It was hard to harmonize, after all, especially if she was aiding a jutsu that needed huge chakra reserves that would only come by to someone from the Uzumaki lineage. Boruto was still too young to be able to use that stored chakra, so he needed Sarada's help or else he might kill himself.

Approaching the last few seals with hearts beating erratically, both young shinobi tensed in anticipation. Boruto, excited and Sarada, half-afraid.

Then a scream resounded throughout the forest and the two looked up with Boruto almost missing a beat of three seals and jarring Sarada's chakra transference.

A twin of Boruto's scampered out of the forest, twigs and leaves knotted through his hair. It screamed as it ran towards them.

"What the-?!" Boruto spluttered. "I told you not to come to me within ten miles! How stupid can you get?!"

Sarada would have laughed. _The idiot calling himself stupid?_ She should have brought a video camera.

"I'm sorry," it replied in panic. "But I've run out of places to hide from him!"

He hid behind Sarada, peeking as the clone's chaser burst out from the bushes.

Boruto groaned. _Him_ again.

Seriously, mom had to stop sending these fools after him.

Boruto smirked, though. It looked like his clone gave the Hyuuga a hard time. Good.

Hyuuga Kuroki had violated a Hyuuga imperative.

He no longer looked like a Hyuuga.

It seemed impossible but Hyuuga are generally always impeccably clean. Even their clothing seemed to repel any kind of imperfection and dirt. It was worse than walking around arrogantly like a giant stick was shoved up in their asses. Sometimes even Boruto had trouble believing he came from _that_ clan. (His room was a perpetual mess and he could barely keep his face clean when he ate. Mother was always scandalized and tried to make Himawari as prim and proper as she was but they were Uzumaki through and through.)

Grandpa Hiashi said that proper men, proper shinobi, must always keep himself clean and organized. That such focus on small things would make sure he would be the same on anything, thus making oneself consistent, effective and efficient. Boruto would wrinkle his nose and try not to drip tea on his newly provided yukata, which he would have to wear whenever they did any traditional nonsense in the Hyuuga compound.

With twigs and leaves and scratches all over him, the Hyuuga stepped forward, watching the clone disappear from behind the Uchiha heiress whose glowing hand was perched on the mischevous boy's back and said boy gulping as his hands flashed through seal after seal. The official and forbidden looking scroll completed the picture.

"Boruto-sama!" He gritted his teeth. "Stop at once!"

"Sorry! Can't hear ya!"

He got into a quick run, Byakugan activated and Boruto cursed inwardly, flashing the last seal; _tatsu_.

"Sarada! _Now!_ "

Sarada bit on her free thumb roughly, blood bursting, red and flowing, splattering unto the scroll.

As one, the two young almost-genin yelled. _"Sōzō ni Okeru Kami no Te: Jikan Hanten Buraindo Supīdo no jutsu!"_

Boruto felt a wrenching sensation in his stomach. The last thing he sees was Kuroki's desperate grab for his jacket but meeting empty air. The last thing he feels was Sarada clutching his back closer to her and hear her gasp out.

He blacked out pretty quickly after.

 **Author's Notes:**

I invented it using Google translate, so someone tell me if it's even right. _Sōzō ni Okeru Kami no Te: Jikan Hanten Buraindo Supīdo no jutsu (Hands of God In Creation: Time Reversal Blind Speed Technique)_ :)

Know that this is cross-posted in my Ao3 account _**theGirlwithtoomanyOTPs**_

Announcements of updates can be seen on my Tumblr _**prettysweetest**_

Love and feedback are appreciated


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